Address-printing machine



July 9, 1935. J KRELL ADDRESS PRINTING MACHINE F iled Aug. 24, 1955 4 Sheets-Sheet l July 9, 1935., 4. KRELL 2,007,720

ADDRESS PRINTING MACHINE Fild Aug. 24, 1953 4 sheets shee 2 u l I u M 9, 1935. J KRELL 2,0073% ADDRESS PRINTING MACHINE Filed Aug. 24, 1933 4 Sheets-Sheet 5 4 Hmi Ifys.

July 9, 1935.

Filed Aug. 24, 1933 J. KRELL ADDRESS PRINTING MACHINE 4 Sheets-Sheet 4 C)./ rd/ 27 Affys.

Patented July 9, 1935 OFFICE ADDRESS-PRINTINGuMACHINE X f Joseph Krell, BerIin-Zehlendorf," Germany Application August 24, 193.3, Seria1 No. 686,610;

. 1 In Germany September 2, 1932 My invention relates, to address-printing machines, and more particularly to machines of the kind described in my prior U. S. Patent'1,968,153, .July 31, 1934, for Address-printing machines.

In this machine, a perforated control chart is" V placed on a support so that the chart and the support move as a unit, and the operation of the machine with respect to the printing or skippingof' its printing platesis controlled by'the chart.

prove a machine of this type. a i

Meahsfor selecting, i. e., selectively printing and skipping the printing plates as'they arefed through the machine in sequence, by means of perforated control'members are old. In one type of selector, a circular control disk or master diskisplaced on a rotatingcarrier which is connected to a source of electric energy and operated from the mechanism of the. printing machinaas de scribed in U. S.Patent 1,257,480,110 Griswold, February 26, 1918, for Selector printingmechanism. In the other type which is described in my above 'said' prior patent, the perforated control chart is placed on a drum which is connected'to the source -of electric energy. i

In Griswolds mechanism, a fixed spring contact which is connected to the other terminal of the source of energy, cooperates with the master disk to make contact through its holes. In the -.-machine described in my said prior patent, a scanning member'which is connected to the other terminal of the source, moves alongthe'drum and is fedfor the pitch of two, holes in the chart for every operation of the drum. n

Both types of selectors have serious drawbacks.

In Griswolds mechanism; only a single circuw lar row of perforations can be made in theimaster;

disk, unless the spring contact is movable. .In this case, however, the perforations'must be ar ranged in several circles and this is so confusing; to the operator that it is hardly possible to operate with such a disk. Another drawback is that the number of perforations which'can bemadeina chart of given diameter, is limited.

In the machine described in my said prior patent, with a drum of large diameter, on which the form to very exact limits while thehygrosco i It is an object of my present invention toimg properties of paper or 'cardboard cause variations of its length, and finally the selector is very com plicated, particularly on account of the movable scanning member; i

With the obj ect of my present invention in mind, Iso design the selector=that it operates with a control strip instead of a" disk or a chart of predetermined length. The strip is comparatively narrow and its perforations, or rather, the points where perforations can be made, are arranged in rows transversely to the sides of the strip. The

dispositiontis so lu'cidtha't the strip is punched atany desired point witha normal hand punch without the slightest difiiculty; I

The selector is fitted with fixed scanning members for'making contact with the support or drum through the'holes of thestrip. The 'supportor drum has means for. moving a control strip past the support'and past the scanning members; as,

against the machine in which the control chart is fixed to thedrum as described in my said prior patent. Such means may-be pins on, the drum which engage in holes of the strip, like film feed- I ing sprockets. The support ordrum is fed from i the printing mechanism of the machine intermittently in conformity with the pitch of the rows of holes in'therstrip. In this manner, the rows are fed intermittently through between the scanning membersand the support or drum.

A circuit isconnected to the support and to a control magnet for theiprinting mechanism of the machine, and is made when one of the scanning'lmemberscontacts with the support through one ofthe holes of the strip. Means are provided-ifor successively connecting the individual scanning members to. the circuit of the control magnet.

- The width of individual'scanningmembers is preferably equal tothetransverserow of punching points, and the number of the members is equalto that of the'points per row, so that, if every, row has ten points, the scanning device has tenscanning members. Means are preferably provided for cutting theindividual members into the circuit by which they are connected to the said source of energy, in sequence.--

In a preferredembodiment of my invention, the support for the control strip is a drum of conducting material with a row of strip-feeding pins at either end, like afilm-feeding sprocket. Its dia-meteris small, and it is free to turn on a shaft which, upon every forward .movement of the'printing plates, is'turned through a given'angle from the mechanism of the address-printing the scanning device formed by the v machine. In another embodiment, the support is a strip of conducting material in a drum of insulating material.

The individual members of the scanning device are insulated from each other and are cut in successively by the partial rotations of the shaft on which the drum is free to turn. When a row has been scanned the drum is turned through the pitch of two transverse rows by suitable mechanism, and the scanning members are now ready for scanning the next row.

In the accompanying drawings, a selector of the first type referred to, with a drum of conducting material, and a selector of the second type referred to, with a drum of insulating material, and a strip of conducting material in the drum, both embodying my invention are illustrated diagrammatically by way of example.

In the drawings:

Figs. 1 to 7 illustrate the first, and Figs. 8 and 9 illustrate the second type. i

More particularly, Fig. lis a perspective illustration showing av portion of amachine to which the selector of the first type is fitted,

Fig. 2 is a perspective illustration, drawn to a larger scale, of the selector, viewed from the rear in Fig. 1 and showing the selector ready sulating material.

for the reception of a fresh control strip,

Fig. 3 is an elevation of the selector, in-axial section for the major portion,

Fig. 4 is a section on the line IV-IV in Fig. 3,

Fig. 5'is an'end elevation of the selecton'v'iewed partly broken open,

Fig.6 shows a control strip, and i Fig. '7 is a diagram of connections.

The selector of the first type has ten individual members on its scanning device, and a drum' of conducting material. I

Fig. 8 isan elevation, and i Fig. 9 is a diagram showing the selector of the second type which has a single scanning member; and a drum of insulating material, with a con in the direction of the arrow V in Fig. 3, and

ducting strip inserted therein for cooperation with the scanning member.

Referring now to the drawings, and first to Figs. 1 to 7, the address-printing machine to whose table I the bracket 1 of the selector is secured by screws or the like, 'may be of'any suitable type and will not be described in detail,

as it is no part of the present invention. Its 1 printing arm 2 which is mounted to rock about a pivot extending in parallel to one of the longitudinal sides of the table I, is operated by any suitable means, not shown, to'alternately bring down the printing platen 6 at its end for printing a plate 4, and for raising the platen from the tablewhen the next printing plate is moved 'to the printing station.

printing arm 2 and the feed slide 5 cooperate in" such manner that the feed slide presents every plate 4 at the printing station when the platen 6 descends.

The printing platen 6 is controlled for printing and skipping the plates by a system of links and levers B on the printing arm, and a control magnet St, Fig. 7. The cooperation of'the control 1 magnet with the platen 6 is also old; The system The printing plates 4 are .piled in a cage 3 on the table, and the lowermost plate of the pile is engaged by a feed slide 5 and B moves with the printing arm 2 without influencing the platen 6 so that the platen is not moved into active position, and the plates 4 at the printing station are skipped, unless the control magnet St is excited by the selector under the control of the strip 48, as will be described. If this occurs, the control magnet attracts its armature (not shown) and arrests the system B at is freeor lower end. The platen 6 is. now advanced by the cooperation of the rocking arm 2 with the partly arrested system B, and the plate =4which is at the printing station at the time, is

.machines whose printing plates have the said means, is provided for exciting the control magnet St, the magnet being operated by the selector scanning the strip 48.

Mounted to rotate in the selector bracket 1 is a shaft B'on which a feeding drum is free toturn. The barrel 9 of the drum is of electrically conducting material, normally metal, and is mounted on the shaft 8 by two end plates l and II of in- Thebarrel is equipped with two'rows of pins I! at opposite ends, for engaging in'the sprocket holes 49 of the strip 48. Keyed on the shaft 6 near the inner end plate I0 of the drum 9 is a ratchet wheel l3 which is operated by a ratchet pawl l4 on a lever I 5, Fig. 4. The lever is pivoted in the bracket 1 at I6 and equipped with a. spring I! for holding the pawl M in the teeth of the ratchet wheel l3; The lever normally bears on a stop 20 but is connected to a Bowden cable or the like 2| 'at its free end. The cable 2| is operatively connected to any part of the printing 'mechanism; for instance, the system A, and

raises the free end of the lever 15 when the feed slide advances. The movement of the lever IS in the direction of arrow l8eifects a partial rotation of shaft 8 in the direction of arrow IS. The rotation of the shaft 8 is transmitted to the drum 9 by a spur gear 35 at the side of the outer end plate II which is connected to the end plate by rivets or the like. The spur gear 35 meshes with a pinion 36 on a lay shaft 31. All teeth of pinion 36 are as long as required for cooperation with the teeth of spur gear 35, but every second tooth of the pinion is elongated. In Fig. 3, 36a are the short teeth whose length is equal to the length of the teeth of spur gear 35, and 361; are the elongated teeth. Keyed on the end of shaft 8 which projects beyond the spur gear 35 is a knob or handle 38 which on its perimeter, at 39, bears the numerals l to I0, as best seen in Fig. 2, and is knurled at 38a for facilitating the manipulation which will be described. The knob or'handle has a'single' tooth 38b for cooperation with the elongated teeth 36b of pinion 36, and therefore will be termed the single-tooth gear.

The ratchet wheel 13 by which the shaft 3 is rotated intermittently, and the single-tooth gear 38, are so related that while one of the rows on the strip is being scanned, the shaft 8 moves idly with respect to the drum, while performing certain switching operations, as will be described, until the row has been finished, whereupon the single tooth 38b of gear 38, through pinion 36 and spur gear 35, feeds the drum for the subsequent row.

' A disk 22 015 insulating material is secured on the inner end of the shaft 8 to which, by screws wall of thebracket 1, and two frames are mounted to oscillate on the rod.. Each frame has two curved side arms 4|, 42 and 4|, 42, respectively, as best'seen in Fig. 2, and the free ends of the arms are connected by stays 43. Rollers 44 which aregrooved so asto clear the pins l2 on the drum 9, 'arei'mounted to rotate1on the stays 43. The frames are equipped with intermediate stays 430 which project beyond the arms 4| and 4| and are connected by a spring45 which tends to pull the arms toward the drum '9. The arms 42 and 42 are equipped with stops 46 and a check 41 is provided on the end wall of the bracket 1 for limiting the upward movement of the two frames. In the position illustrated in Fig.2; the arms are in their topmost position and the spring is above the rod 40 so that its pull applies the stops 46 to the check 4?.

When the strip has been placed on the drum 9, the frames are turned down and the pull of the spring 45 now.

appliesthe rollers .44 to the strip.

.-Mounted on the stay 43!! of the frame 4| 42 is the scanning'device'fll with the scanning mem- The scanning members or contact brushes 3| are mounted side by side on the device 3| and insulated fromeach other. Their free ends bear on the drum 9 when the frames 4|, 42 and 4|, 42 have been turned down, and there is no strip 48 on the drum.

'A double-armed contacting spring 32 is mounted on a pin 33, the free ends of the spring bearing on the drum 9 outside the row of pins I 2 at its inner end. The'pin 33 is insulated from the bracket i, Fig. 3.

The connections of the selector, the control magnet St, etc., will now be described with reference to Fig- '7. In this diagram, the ten'contacting bosses 30 and the drum 9 are shown with two parallel axes for the sake of clearer illustration,

and the axes are connected by gearing 98, 99. The bosses are marked with the numerals I to X. The source of electricenergy, here shown as a j system witha positivewire or terminal P, and a negative wire or terminal N, is connected to the inner contacting block 26 through a wire 29 and the annular member 21, as also shown in Fig. 3. The annular spring'24, with its outer contact25,

is here shown as a switch which successively con-.

nects the bosses 30 to the inner block. 26. The bosses 3!! are connected to the scanning members 3| through ten wires which are housed in a tube 3H3, as best seen in Fig. 2. The spring 32 on the pin 33 whose ends make contact with the drum 9, as ,shownin Figs. 3 and 5, is connected to the negative wire N through a manually operated switch 53, the coil of the control magnet St, and a wire 34. A switch known as a machine switch may be provided in the wire. intermediate the control magnet Stand the negative wire N at 55, this switch being closed automatically by the mechanism of the printing machine before the selector is operated."

34' is a shunt from the wire 34 in which is ar- In this position, the selector is. ready for the reception of a strip 48.

ranged a relay 54 with anarmature 51. The armature is connected to the positive wire P by a wire 56 and controls a contact to which a contacting point 58'for the switch 53 is connected.

A wire 59 is connected to one of the bosses 3H, for instance, the boss X as shown, and to the wire 34 through-a wire 6| and across the resistance 60. 64 is another resistance which is also connected to the wire 6| at one end, and to the positive terminal P at its other end, through a wire 62 "anda switch 63. The last-described connection serves for checking the synchronous operation of the printing plates 4 and the strip 48. .A relay 65 which is connected to thewires 59 and 62, arrests the-niachine when the synchronous operation is disturbed, as will be described below.

The wires 34, 59 and 29 are housed in a tube 290, Figs. 2, 3 and 5.

. Referring now to Fig. '6, this shows a preferred control strip 48. The strip which may be made of any. suitable materiahas described above, and is preferably of thin cardboard, has two parallel rows of sprocket holes 49 along its sides for the pins 12 on the'drum 9 to engage in. With the exception of its ends, the strip is printed with a great. number of parallel transverse rows at ten punching points per row. The punching points 50 may be perforated by a normal punching tool, or,

any other suitablemeans. The holes may be of any desired form, for instance, circular. In order tofacilitate the punching of the strip transverse lines are arranged *on the strip after a" given number of rows,'in thepresent instance,

after every tenth row, and the lines are marked with the total number of punching points in the preceding rows, such as HIE after the'tenth row, etc. i A mark 52 is provided near the upper end of the strip, for a purpose which will be described.

,Any data may be written or printedon the ends of the strip 48 beyond the rows of punching points Obviously, the strip may be an endless band, or

may be made into an endless band by connecting its ends b pasting or other suitable means. In this case, another drum must be provided below the drum 9,- for guiding the endless band. This other'drum is not shown.

'Instead of a drum as illustrated, I may provide 7 another sup-port for the strip, for instance, a flat plate of conducting 'material (not shown) past which the strip is conducted stepwise and scanned by the members 3|, orany other suitable means,

making contact with. the support through the holes in the strip.

For inserting the strip 48, the frames 4|, 42 and 4|, 42 are turned up as shown in Fig. 2, until the stops 46 engagethe check 4] and the strip is now placed on the pins |2 of the drum withits sprocket holes 49. it/Iarks 65 are on the drum, and the strip 48 should be so inserted that its mark 52 is in line with the topmost mark 66', Fig. l. yond its initial position, and the marks 52 and 56 are out of register. The single-tooth gear 38 on the shaft 8' is turned to move its numeral .Iil into linewith the mark 52 on the strip 48, in which position the single tooth 38b of the gear begins to engage the pinion'35 by which the gear 38 and the gear 35 on the drum 9 are connected as describedabove; The frames on the rod 4|] are now turned'd own. Their rollers 44 bear on the strip 48 under the pressure of spring 45 and the free ends of the scanning members 3| are slightly in advance of the first row 50 on the. strip 43.

7 It will appear thatthe insertion of the strip is In this figure, the drum has moved be-' v and to the positive wire P. When the first print ing plate 4 arrives at the printing station, the Bowden cable 2| raises the lever l5 and the shaft 8 is turned through an angle which corresponds to one tooth of the ratchet wheel l3. The partial rotation of the shaft 8 is transmitted to the drum 9 by the gearing 38, 36, 35 and the drum now presents the first row of punching points 50 to the scanning members 3|. The rotation of the shaft'8 causes the outer contact 25 on the spring 24 to engage the boss 30 (I) and the first scanning member 3| is now in the circuit 29- 9-34 from P to N, Fig. 7. If there is a hole at the first point I) of the first row, the circuit is made through the scanning member and the drum and the plate at the station is printed. If

thereis no hole, the plate is skipped. Now, the second boss 30 (II) is connected to the wire 29, and so on, in the direction of the arrow, Fig. 7, while the drum remains stationary, until the last boss 39 (X) has been attained. The first ten printing plates have now been printed or skipped, in conformity with the perforations in the respective rows. Upon the tenth partial rotation of shaft 8 by which the first scanning member 3| is cut in for the next cycle,'the drum is entrained by the single-tooth gear 38, and the second row is presented to the scanning members 3|. This is repeated until the strip has moved through the selector.

The described operation occurs if the switch 53 is in the full-lines position. When one of the scanning members 3| engages in a hole in the strip, the following circuit is established: from P through 29, 26, one of the bosses 30, the corresponding scanning member 3|, drum 9, wire 34, s'witch 53, coil of control magnet St, machine switch 55 (automatically closed in time), and N. As described above, the plate 4 at the station is printed when the controlmagnet is excited and partly arrests the system B.

By connecting the switch 53 to the contact ing point 58, the control magnet is excited when the scanning member does not encounter a hole,

and attracts its armature, opening its switch 51,

the control magnet St is not excited, and the plate'at the station is not printed. This operation may be termed a negative selection, those printing plates which correspond to holes in the strip 48, being skipped.

The connection for checking the synchronous operation of the printing plates and the strip will now be described. The tenth boss 30 (X) is used for checking, and therefore every tenth printing plate must be equipped with means such as a projection, for closing the switch 63. It

has been said above that the printing plates in synchronism, the two resistances 60 and 64 whose ohmic values are equal, are cut in at the same time by the boss 30 (X) and the switch 63. The relay 65 is not excited, the two resistances 68 and 64 being connected to the relay 35 in the manner of a Wheatstone bridge, and the machine is not arrested. If the synchronism is disturbed, for instance, if the printing plates do not move through the machine in the proper sequence, one of the'resistances 60 and 64 is not supplied with current, and the relay 65 is energized, arresting the machine. The operator will now remove the cause of the trouble, and restart the machine.

Instead of providing ten scanning members 3|, as described, I may provide a single scanning member (not shown) which is moved intermittently with respect to the strip 48 and successively scans the rows of the strip.

Referring now to Figs. 8 and 9, these show the other type of selector, with a drum of insulating material, and a single scanning device. The device is a contact brush 68 which extends all over the width of the rows of the strip 48 and is connected to the positive wire P of the system by a wire 63. The barrel 9' of the drum which is shown flattened out in Fig. 9, is of insulating material, with a contacting strip III, of helical shape, embedded therein. One end of the contacting strip is connected to a slip ring H and a wire 61 connects the ring to the negative wire N of the system.

The drum 3' is fixed on the shaft 8 which is mounted in the selector bracket I, as described above, and the pins l2 are arranged on a pair of sprockets 12 at opposite ends of the drum 9' whicharefree to turn on shaft 8. The shaft 8 is rotated intermittently by means such as the lever l5, pawl l4 and ratchet wheel I3, and the sprockets are connected to the shaft by a pair of one-tooth gears 73, each with a tooth 13a, like the tooth 38b of the single-tooth gear 38. The gears 13 cooperate with two pinions 36 on the shaft 31, with short teeth 36a and elongated teeth 3%, as described, and the spur gears 35, as described above, the only dilierences being that the gears are duplicated and that they operate the sprockets 12 and not the drum, as in the first type. By these means the sprockets are entrained only after every tenth partial rotation of the drum 9.

Fig. 9 shows a portion of the strip 48, with the rows of punching stations between lines 5| for I and 203. As the drum is here flattened out, its contact strip 10 shows as a straight line. The black. spots in the rows of punching stations 50 indicate holes. The brush 68 makes contact through the holes of the several rows, closing the circuit through the brush and the contact strip 10, and through the members illustrated in Fig. 7. When a row hasbeen scanned, i. e., when the drum has performed as many-tenpartial revolutions in the direction of the arrow 14 in Fig. 9 as there are punchingpoints in a row, the sprockets 12 are operated to'present the next row to the brush 68 for scanning. The beginning of every row which is thus presented, co-incides with the beginning of the contact strip 10.

I claim:

1. In an address-printing machine, a selector including a support of electrically conducting material, a fixed scanning. device having a set of scanning members which are insulated with respect to each other, for making contact with said support, and means for moving a control strip past said support and said scanning members so 2,007,720 V r l 5 as to enable said members to make contact with said support through holes in said strip arranged in rows of as many punching'points as there are scanning members in saidset, transversely to the sides of the strip; means for imparting intermittent movement to said strip-moving means from the printing mechanism of the machine in conformity with the pitch of the rows on the strip, a control magnet, a circuit connected to the sup-- port and to said magnet and. adapted to be made by one of said. scanning members contacting with said support through one of the holes in said strip, and means for successively connecting the individual scanning members to said circuit.

2. In an address-printing machine, a; selector including a shaft, a drum, of electrically conducting material which is free to turnon said shaft,

a fixed scanning device having a set of scanning members for making contact with said drum, means on said drum for moving a control strip past said drum-and said scanning members so as to enable said members to make contact with said drum through holes in said strip arranged in rows of as many punching points as there are scanning members in said set, transversely to the sides of the strip, and a contacting boss per scanning member, the contacting bosses being electrically connected to the corresponding scanning members; means for imparting intermittent movement to said shaft from the printing mechanism of the machine, mechanism operatively connected tosaid shaft and to said drum for imparting intermittent movement tosaid drum in conformity with the pitch of the rows of the strip, a control magnet, a circuit connected to said drum and adapted to be made by one of said scanning members contacting with said support through one of the holes in said strip, and a contacting block, also connected to said circuit and adapted to rotate with said shaft, for successively engagfrom the printing mechanism of the machine in conformity with the pitch of the rows on the strip, a control magnet, an electric system having a pair of conductors, a circuit connected to said conductors, to the support, the scanning device and the magnet, and adapted to be made by one of said scanning members contacting with said support through one of the holes in said strip, another circuit, also connected to said conductors, for checking the synchronous movement of the printing plates moving through the machine, and of said strip, said checking circuit being connected to one ofsaid scanning members, a switch in said 1 circuit adapted to be operated by selected printing plates, equal resistances in two branches of said checking circuit, and a relay connected to both said'branches so as to be energized when'said circuit is not closed by said switch simultaneously with the making of contact by the scanning member which is connected to' the checking circuit.

JOSEPH KRELL. 

